Article Sidebar

Trending

Article content

CALGARY — British Columbia Premier John Horgan is trying to downplay comparisons between this week’s protests against the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline, which he supports, and the Northern Gateway and Trans Mountain oil pipelines, which he has opposed.

“What’s relevant is the issue before us. In this case, it’s a natural gas pipeline that has support from 20 of the 20 bands along the pipeline, including the hereditary leadership,” Horgan told a news conference in Victoria on Wednesday.

Horgan made the comments following protests Tuesday and Wednesday sparked by the RCMP removing a blockade put in place by Indigenous protestors who oppose the Coastal GasLink project, which would connect B.C.’s gas fields with the $40-billion LNG Canada project in Kitimat, B.C.

Advertisement

Story continues below

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Article content continued

Police were in full force during a vocal counter protest in support of the Transcanada Coastal GasLink pipeline in downtown Calgary on Tuesday.Darren Makowichuk / Postmedia

He said comparisons to past protests against resource projects including the War in the Woods, and campaigns against the Northern Gateway and Trans Mountain pipelines were not directly analogous to opposition to this week’s events — though many both in favour of the project and opposed see a direct parallel.

“This is the same fight as the fight to stop Trans Mountain’s disastrous diluted bitumen pipeline and tanker project. The risks are too great — we can not and will not allow them to destroy our way of life. No means no,” Tsleil-Waututh First Nation member Will George said in a release, distributed by Protect the Inlet.

Advertisement

Story continues below

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Article content continued

Those in favour of the gas pipeline also see a direct comparison, and believe the current B.C. government has fostered some of the opposition.

“If you go back to when the NDP government was in opposition, they opposed everything,” Independent Contractors Association of B.C. president Chris Gardner said.

The position (the NDP) now find themselves in is that everyone they were allied with are very disappointed and continue to oppose the projects

Independent Contractors Association of B.C. president Chris Gardner

“The position they now find themselves in is that everyone they were allied with are very disappointed and continue to oppose the projects,” Gardner said.

RCMP roadblocks remained in place for a third day around the territory of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation, where 14 people were arrested on Monday after the Mounties forcibly took apart a first gate blocking access to an area where Coastal GasLink wants to build a natural gas pipeline.

Advertisement

Story continues below

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Article content continued

“We took legal action as a last resort and only after six years of unsuccessful efforts to find a mutual solution. We remain committed to keeping the lines of communication open,” Coastal GasLink president Rick Gateman said in an open letter to B.C. residents.

“Our only goal was and is to access the bridge and public road so our teams can travel to our pipeline right of way one kilometre away from the camp. Construction and pre-construction will not impact the camp,” he said.

TransCanada spokesperson Terry Cunha said in an email contractors were able to pass the second of two blockades thanks to RCMP assistance on Tuesday but had to continue dismantling additional barriers.

Advertisement

Story continues below

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Article content continued

“After gaining safe access to the second blockade, our contractors focused their attention on safely and respectfully beginning the removal of road obstructions built over the past several weeks,” Cunha said.

A vocal counter protest in support of the Transcanada Coastal GasLink pipeline took place in downtown Calgary on Tuesday.Darren Makowichuk / Postmedia

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the arrest of the 14 people was “not an ideal situation” and that, while the situation is currently tense, he would seek to “reduce the temperature a little bit.”

In an interview with CBC News, Trudeau said, “there are a number of people and communities who are supportive, there are a number of folks who disagree with it.”

The arrests set off a string of protests in major Canadian cities, but Horgan said those protests “were not uniformly focused” on issues of First Nations land rights in northern B.C., which he said is at the heart of the disagreement this week.

Advertisement

Story continues below

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Article content continued

A group of hereditary Wet’suwet’en chiefs in the region oppose the pipeline, while elected chiefs and councillors along the pipeline route have signed benefits agreements and support the project.

“LNG Canada and Coastal Gaslink have met our standards,” Haisla First Nation Chief Councillor Crystal Smith said in an open letter on Wednesday, adding the projects have already allowed the band to roll out new programs for its people.

“We urge you to think strongly about how your opposition to LNG developments is causing harm to our people and our wellbeing. Opposition does nothing towards empowering our Nation, but rather dismisses our Rights and Title and works towards separating our people from real benefits,” she said.

Advertisement

Story continues below

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Article content continued

Horgan said these divisions highlight “the challenges that investors have, the challenges that governments have, that First Nations have” in B.C.

To complicate matters, there is no clear constitutional answer as to whether elected councils or hereditary chiefs should be consulted on resources projects, though many companies choose to consult with both.

“These all raise additional layers of legal complexity and uncertainty because the questions haven’t been resolved,” said University of Saskatchewan law professor Dwight Newman, who is also the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Rights in Constitutional and International Law.

Advertisement

Story continues below

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Article content continued

Newman said the issues are especially complex in B.C. because, unlike the Prairie provinces and Ontario, most of the Indigenous groups in the province have not signed treaties with the provincial government.

Executives within the energy sector and political observers in B.C. believe the same approaches used to delay oil pipelines such as the Trans Mountain expansion project, which, like Coastal GasLink, had the support of most First Nations along the route, are now being applied to natural gas pipelines.

“I think there is an attempt to map the characteristics of the oilsands campaign onto this campaign,” said Stewart Muir, of pro-industry advocacy group Resource Works in Victoria.

Advertisement

Story continues below

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Article content continued

He added that pipeline opponents have been emboldened by successfully blocking or delaying oil pipelines and, “They’re not looking to retire having opposed oil pipelines.”

Natural gas pipelines have been challenged in the northeastern United States, where protestors have opposed “fracked gas” pipeline projects including the Mountain Valley pipeline, Constitution pipeline, North East Direct pipeline and others.

“What we’ve seen in the U.S. is the resistance has moved from very high profile protests to a much more organized challenge within the courts,” RS Energy director Jen Snyder said, adding that in the case of the Mountain Valley pipeline, delays caused costs to escalate by 60 per cent.

Trending

Related Stories

This Week in Flyers

Article Comments

Comments

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.

Notice for the Postmedia Network

This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.